Slayers: The Next Generation
by MileyLoonaticsFan96
Summary: It's been nearly 20 years since the big fight against the Darkness and the following birth of Giselle Summers. Now it's time for a new generation of heroes to take up the job of Vampire slaying and defend earth and its inhabiting human populace. Spin-off of the Twin Trilogy (last story "Murder Mysteries") but a recap is included so that reading the trilogy is not entirely necessary
1. Recap and Trailer

Recap

_Previously on the Twin Trilogy…_

Cordelia collapses in Wesley's arms in the street with a vision.

Cordelia: I saw a girl, she needs our help.

Angela beats up a demon.

Angel: Name's Angel.

Angela: Angela.

Cordelia holds up a mirror to reveal that neither Angel nor Angela is in the reflection.

Angel and Angela: You're a Vampire!

Angela: When's your birthday?

Angel: July 16th.

Angela: What year?

Angel: 1757.

Angela: That's mine. What country?

Angel: Ireland.

Angela: What time?

Angel: 7:28.

Angela: I was born at 7:36!

Wesley: Angel and Angela are…

Angel and Angela: Twins?

Angela sires Evelyn. Angel and Angela kill a bad guy and take her power.

Angela: (telepathically) _Can you hear me, Angel?_

Angel: _I can hear your thoughts._

Angela: _And I can hear yours._

Angela adds Cordelia to the link by taking her hand as a light wraps around their wrists. Angel adds Wesley the same way. Angela takes Evelyn, who hugs her hexed teddy bear tightly. Angela comes to the Hyperion a year later.

Angela: Hey, Angel.

Angel: Angela.

Angel starts to partially lose his soul and Angela gets pierced, turning her into Aingael. The two share Angela's infection by sucking each other's blood.

Angela: We can weaken Darla and then this whole link will turn back to what it was.

Angela sets fire to Darla and Drusilla.

Angela: I can promise you that we're both gonna die together, both with souls at the time.

Angela cuts her palm open.

Angela: My blood…

She takes his hand and cuts it.

Angela: Your blood…

She mixes the blood.

Angela: Our blood.

Divinity walks into the Hyperion.

Divinity: I'm in danger, you're in danger. Our dangers are related. It involves a girl I think you guys know. Her name is…Angela.

Angel: Huh?

Darkana falls from a tree behind Buffy. She turns into a cat and runs off.

Angel: We've gotta bring Angela back.

Dawn walks in.

Angel: Dawn.

Xander, Anya, Willow, and Buffy all walk in. Angela comes in with Evelyn.

Angela: While I was a killer Vamp, I put together the Gales. Darkana is half-Vampire and half-Remori demon. Darkana can shape-shift and manipulate darkness. And then there's Melody. Half-demon, half…well, actually I don't think anyone knows what the other half is. She can control and manipulate minds. And Famina who is half-Oracle and therefore can see the future. She's also half-Vampire and can steal memories. Not erase, steal. Any of the memories you'd lose would go right into her. And Tameeka…she's the only one who's any part real human and it's just half. She's half-Ghost and an elemental. Then, Cassie. Her real name is Cassiopeia, actually, but everyone calls her Cassie. She's a telepathic pure-blood Witch. And lastly, Isabella, half-Vampire, half-Werewolf.

Tameeka: You sired the Amwyn a Difetha.

Angela: What? No, I d…Evelyn. She's the Defender and Destroyer?

Evelyn knocks out Xander and kills a boy. Willow hexes her teddy bear, which gives her a soul again. Divinity disappears. Cassie casts a spell.

Willow: The Gales cast a spell. It released the Vampire versions of us!

Wesley: [Melody's] half Treilnaok! It's a demonic creature that feeds off the souls of mortals and can absorb the power of magic creatures. Their touch is poisonous, their blood is acidic, and their gaze is deadly or—in the case of a Halfling like Melody—petrifying.

Connor beheads Famina, dusting her. Three years later, the gang has made the Slayer Training Program. Anya, Tara, Wesley, Fred, Cordelia, and Doyle reappear as Ghosts.

Wesley: Dawn's our Seer!

Dawn makes out with Connor. Darkana sires Connor.

Dawn: I'm pregnant.

Willow casts a spell to bring Connor and the six Ghosts back as half-humans. Eight months later, Dawn has Summer.

Anya: I've been pregnant for six months now.

The Gales cast a spell to send Summer to Sharusa. Two weeks later, Anya has Autumn. The Darkness comes along. The Darkness beheads Cassie, bringing Summer back as a teenager. The Darkness possesses Darkana, kills Isabella, knocks out Tameeka, and chases after Melody.

Angela: I can't believe I'm saying this, but we've gotta protect Melody.

The Darkness slits Tameeka's throat, mutilates Melody, and kills two of the Slayers. Dawn uses her power to knock the Darkness out of Darkana. Angela looks at Angel, her eyes violet from the Darkness' possession. Angel remakes her blood ritual to get rid of the Darkness. The Darkness manifests.

Cordelia: I think I preferred it when it was inside Angela.

Fred: I'm pregnant!

Buffy and Angel kiss, eloping. The Darkness pierces Buffy with dark energy. Buffy half-dies in Angel's arms. Summer and Dawn kill the Darkness, but awaken the Hell-Mouth outside London. Buffy comes back.

Wesley: I think I know what happened. When the Darkness died, the explosion following penetrated the link and gave everyone in it eternal youth. For those who already had it, eternal souls.

Willow: I think I found your birth parents.

Angel and Angela stare at her.

Willow: Your father died of cholera before you were born. But there's no death record for Elizabeth. She's immortal. She's still alive!

Buffy: I think I'm pregnant. With Angel's child.

Connor: And I thought I was a big deal.

Angela pierces Louisa.

Louisa: You think I know where your mother is? I came here for you. If anything, your mother is dead.

Angela stares at her. Willow gives Drusilla an eternal soul so she and Spike can be together.

Angela: Angel, Louisa had to be lying. If she was here for us, why would she have to kill Lola's mother?

Angel: Maybe a Slayer bloodline was dangerous for her.

Angela: And what about our mother? If she knew she was gonna die, that would explain why she gave us up.

Angel: She's out there. Trust me.

Angela smiles at him. Buffy screams.

Willow: The Slayer in her is fighting against the Vampire in that child.

Angel: They'll both die.

Willow: There is one thing we can do.

Willow casts a spell on Buffy. She holds up a bottle with a glowing black light in it.

Willow: Essence of Slayer.

Giselle is born prematurely.

Buffy: So I'm not the Slayer anymore.

Buffy and Angel look at baby Giselle. Buffy smiles.

Buffy: It was worth it.

Trailer

**Darkness is coming…**

Xander: Our child, special.

Anya: I always knew.

**The end of days draws near…**

Buffy: I don't think we really got rid of the First.

**And all…**

**Will…**

**Be…**

**Lost.**

Angela: Something happened to Willow.

Angel: That Sibyl you killed. She's back. She did something.

Spike: Looks like there's more to the kids than meets the eye.

_Summer stakes a Vamp without looking._

_Giselle Vamps._

_Autumn turns into a wolf._

_Audrey casts a spell._

Fred: Anthony was born on Halloween. Do you know what that means?

_Irene listens and can hear everything she wants to._

_Wren turns into a bird._

_Winter drops an amulet and reveals that it's burned a mark shaped like a star on her palm._

_Morgan collapses with a vision._

_Cameron has a vision._

_Lucas fights a Vampire._

Giles: Three of these children are not even supposed to exist. Another was born on the Day of the Dead. The rest of them—except Autumn, I suppose—have rare abilities that haven't emerged in even immortals for hundreds of years.

Buffy: Which means there's more to this story then we're getting.

Louisa: Newsflash: sometimes, a chain of events starting with something as small as dropping a book can lead to the end of the world…or its saving. All we have to do is manipulate the time stream a little.

Willow: It's impossible to do stuff like this, but it's happening.

Summer: We've gotta do something…or it's over for us and everyone.

**Will they save the world?**

Winter: There's something going on here, I know there is.

Dawn: Isn't there always? And doesn't it always involve me?

**Or will it collapse under them?**

Cameron: If we don't do something now, we're all gonna die!

Giselle: I'm not supposed to exist. Maybe it'd be better for everyone if I didn't.

Autumn: Audrey!

_A Vampire tries to shoot Autumn._

**Next Generation**

Summer: I hate this job.

Anthony: I know, isn't it cool?

**Coming soon…**


	2. Prologue

Slayers: the Next Generation

Chapter 1: Prologue

_Halloween…_

_2008…_

A group of Slayer trainers was in the lobby of their building together: Buffy Summers, the ex-Vampire Slayer; her Vampire husband, Angel; his Vampire twin sister, Angela; Willow Rosenberg, Buffy's Witch best friend; Dawn Summers, Buffy's Seer sister; Connor, her true love, Angel's son; Summer [Summers], Dawn and Connor's daughter; Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, a former Watcher; Winifred Burkle, his wife; Rupert Giles, another former Watcher; Andrew Wells, a Watcher-in-training; Faith Lehane, another Vampire Slayer; Kennedy, Willow's Slayer girlfriend; Charles Gunn, Fred's ex-boyfriend; Spike (AKA William the Bloody), Buffy's ex-boyfriend; Drusilla, his current girlfriend/wife; Tara Maclay, Willow's ex-girlfriend and fellow Wicca; Doyle, an Irish half-demon; Cordelia Chase, his wife, a part-demon girl who received visions from the Powers That Be; and Evelyn Morris, Angela's teddy-hugging Vampire honorary daughter.

It was only noon so nothing fun was happening yet.

Summer was lying on her belly on the floor by a table, kicking her legs back and forth in the air. "What's taking Xander and Anya so long?"

"Having a kid takes a while you know," Fred said, holding a little baby in each arm. She glanced at Wesley who smiled back at her, holding another baby.

"You're telling me." Alexander Harris came in, holding a baby. Anya [Christina Emmanuelle Jenkins/Harris] came up behind him.

Dawn walked over to them and looked at the baby. "So how's our little Halloween baby?"

"A boy," Xander answered, "Not sure what to name him yet, but we'll think of something."

"Well, it's Halloween and nothing fun happens on Halloween," Spike said, "So…why don't we do something?"

Drusilla smiled. "You think our boy is going to be evil, don't you?"

"Hey, a child of 2 Vampires, even if they both have permanent souls, is not supposed to happen." Connor cleared his throat to indicate that his parents had both been Vampires (his mother had staked herself to save him when he was being born and his dad now had a permanent soul, too). "Of course, you were prophesied to come so—"

"Yeah, nice save," Connor said.

Buffy smiled, holding her own kid.

The group had no idea how permanent souls had brought around the ability for Angel, Spike, and Drusilla to conceive, but it did. It was rather odd and they were still having Wesley and Giles study…but Wesley kept having to get Andrew to help instead when Fred/Illyria had trouble with their 3 daughters.

Anyway, the group put their kids in the nursery (if you could call it that considering it was the sight of a murder scene the year before) and left Kennedy and Faith and Andrew and the Vampires in charge of the Slayers while they went off to see what was going on outside.

"Oh!" Willow suddenly spoke up, "I almost forgot! I think I finally found a spell to split up Fred and Illyria!"

"Oh, thank you, Will!" Fred said, hugging her (even though they weren't that close), "Maybe if it works, any kids Wesley and I have for then on will be normal."

"Yeah, right!" Dawn said, "You'd probably still have traces of Old One, let alone the fact that you're still half-Ghost!"

"Dawn's right," Buffy added, "The whole immortal half-Ghost thing is pretty much a warning for the kids. Demon, demon, demon!"

"Point taken," Fred said.

_So we're making a pact, _Angela's voice rang out in their heads, _Right here, right now. No more kids?_

The others exchanged looks.

Buffy finally sighed. _Not for a long time anyway._

There didn't appear to be anything else that day, but there was something there, following them all the way…


	3. Children of the Undead

Chapter 2: Children of the Undead

_Late September, 2023…_

The group's eternally youthful children were now fully grown teenagers.

Summer, who'd been born on February 17, 2007, remained the same as always with her bright red hair and light blue eyes. In a few months, she would be 17/31 (don't ask how the time stream got messed up for her, it's a long story).

Autumn, Xander and Anya's firstborn, had been born on March 21, 2007, and was now 16. She had brownish brunette hair a lot like her father's. Her eyes were an odd color, pink-orange, demonstrating her part-demon-ness. Not to mention the pointed ears.

Irene, Wesley and Fred/Illyria's firstborn, was now 16, too, having been born on August 2, 2007. She had bluish-brunette hair and white-tinted blue eyes, just like Illyria only less noticeable. A lot less. They had found out when she was 5 that she could only hear a lot of sounds on the DreamScape.

Giselle, Buffy and Angel's only child, was the last 16-year-old and the most recent to experience a birthday, having been born on August 30, 2007. She had deep blonde hair (which she had gotten from her mom) that was highlighted by brunette bangs and tints (which she had gotten from her dad). Her eyes were green-blue.

Cameron, Cordelia and Doyle's firstborn, was still 15 with a birthday coming up on November 9. He had the same dark hair as both his parents and the same eyes as his mother.

Morgan, Cameron's twin sister, looked just like her brother in every way except for the difference in gender (and her hair was more sandy). She was seven minutes younger. The two were not exactly as close as brother and sister could get.

Lucas, Spike and Drusilla's only child, was born on December 7, 2007, so his 16th birthday was coming up, too. His hair was a mix of his mother's brunette and his father's light blonde. His eyes, though, were exactly like his dad's.

Audrey, Xander and Anya's middle child, had been born on January 16, 2008. She had her mother's light blonde hair, but it was reddish tinted to where she was strawberry blonde. Her eyes, however, were a deep blue, tinted slightly with some light purple.

Wren, Wesley and Fred's middle child, had been born on May 3, 2008. She had _dark_ brown hair like both her parents and light blue eyes (though, not near as light as Irene's or Illyria's).

Winter, Wren's twin sister, had the same eyes as her, but her hair was so blonde it was only a shade away from white. She was six minutes younger than her sister.

Last, but not least, was Anthony, Xander and Anya's "Halloween baby" and the youngest in the group. He was the only one that was still 14. He was a brunette just like his dad, but had his mother's brown eyes.

One day (in late September as the time indicator…indicated), around 3 AM, Summer was lying asleep in her bed. She was on the DreamScape with the other 10 kids.

All the kids were in the lobby of the STP building on the DreamScape.

"So, Sell, anything…'dreamy' to report?" Summer asked Giselle.

"If you mean 'have I had a Slayer dream' then yes," Giselle answered. She walked over to Irene and took her hand. "Ah, yes…I see a place as a God-King in your future."

Irene scoffed and took her hand back. "Very funny. Just show us the dream."

Giselle rolled her eyes. "Never let me have any fun. Fine." She clapped her hands together and the scene changed to a dark space.

In the distance, the 11 of them could all see that they were on a street in the middle of a rainstorm.

Morgan put her hand out to feel the rain, but the next drop just went right through her hand.

"A dream, remember?" Cameron reminded her. She nodded, without turning to look at him.

They caught sight of one of the Slayers running through the rain and tripping on the sidewalk. She quickly got up. "Come on, Faith's gonna kill us if we don't get back to the building soon!"

Another Slayer came up. "I don't think it's going to make much of a difference when we get back. Just the fact that we were out in the rain is enough to give her grounds to kill us."

The first Slayer rolled her eyes and started to walk off, but stopped. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked the other Slayer.

There was a loud moan.

"OK, now I'm scared, let's go," said the first Slayer, starting to run.

The other Slayer pulled her back. "Slayers don't run. If it's anything dangerous, we'll just beat it up!"

There was a frightening hiss or some sort and a large shadow appeared on the side of a nearby building. The two Slayers screamed and the 11 kids returned to the lobby.

"What was that?" asked Lucas.

"I don't know," said Giselle, "I woke up before that whatever-it-was could come out of the shadows and reveal itself."

"We better tell Aunt Buffy," Audrey suggested.

"Whoa, I'm not sure if I should tell my mom about this just yet," Giselle corrected.

Just then, the lobby shook, knocking Summer and Anthony over, and the group could faintly hear voices. Voices that sounded a lot like mingling of Angel and Buffy and Angela and Evelyn and Fred and Willow and Cordelia and Dawn and Doyle and Anya and Xander.

"I don't think we're gonna be able to avoid it," said Autumn. She closed her eyes and woke up. She came back to her room and scrambled out of her bed. Xander was by her bed. Anya was by the waking Audrey and Evelyn had shook Anthony. "What is it?" Autumn turned on the lamp by her bed. "It's the middle of the night!"

"We've got a problem," said Xander.

The group came to the street from Giselle's dream vision and saw the same two Slayers lying dead on the ground.

"They snuck out about 45 minutes ago," Angela explained, "The alarm went off when it sensed their death about five minutes ago. We were sensing you guys communing on the DreamScape and figured Giselle saw what happened."

"Wow, you guys are good," Wren said.

Giselle walked over to the bodies. "I didn't see what happened, and I didn't see what attacked them. I just saw that something came up from that alleyway…hold on." She knelt down and turned one of the bodies over to reveal… "Looks like some Vamps had a feeding frenzy." …there were bite marks on both sides of each girl's neck, one set on each leg, and two sets on each arm. "Eight of 'em."

"Great, so there's a whole group of crazy psycho Vamps out to get our latest batch of Slayers," Xander complained.

"Something killed them before the Vamps fed," Giselle corrected.

"Say what now?"

Illyria came up. "I sense the presence of 13, not 10. Two came up, one killed one and another killed the other, and then eight Vampires came and fed, and one last came and took the girls' souls."

"So there's 11 killers out there," Angel recapped, "We've got a problem."

Dawn looked down the alleyway. "There's more."

Everyone ran up. Sure enough, there was another body there, and this one hadn't been eaten. His blood was spattered on the ground and there was a message on the wall:

"_You can't save them_"

"That's not good," Spike said.

Angela glared at him and then went over to the wall and touched it, closing her eyes. "I see…" A flash of an image went off in her head: a shadowy figure stabbing a man in the chest. She could just barely tell the figure was a girl from the long hair. "This guy must have been where the killers got _this_ blood." She sniffed the wall a little and opened her eyes. "Or not."

"What now?" Dawn asked, annoyed.

"It…It's demon blood. The third victim was human. I don't get it."

"Looks to me like it's not just 11," Summer said, "I'm thinking there's a nest…or worse…"

_Across town…_

In an old warehouse, a few people were talking.

"They know about the dead Slayers," said a feminine voice.

"Do they know who killed them?" asked another girl.

"No. But they do know that eight Vamps had a feeding frenzy, three others were there for the torturing, and the blood in the alley is demon blood."

"Then why are we worrying about it?" The male voice echoed through the shadows as he stepped into the light to reveal himself as Angel! "As long as they don't know, they're no threat to us. If they find out, we kill them!"

The first girl who spoke came over to him to reveal herself as Famina, one of the Gales…the killer group that had been killed off 16 years before! "Angelus, please. They're still a threat. As long as it's just us, they outnumber us and have a bunch of Slayers on our backs. Don't forget how your son killed me single-handedly."

"It was one beheading!" Angelus said.

The second girl came into the light to reveal herself as Darkana, another one of the Gales. "Yeah, on your boy's part. Let's not forget the Darkness mutilating Melody, beheading Cassie, possessing me, dusting Isabella, and slitting Tameeka's throat."

"So much death." Another girl came out of the dark. Drusilla. "So much pain. It's intoxicating!"

Spike came out of the dark and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Relax, Dru, there's more to come."

"Starting with our Slay-runt friends," Melody added, "They'll all pay for killing us. All of us."

Tameeka came up. "We're lucky the Senior Partners were able to raise us. 'Find the Slayers and kill 'em. Raise the others if you have to. We can't fight the Amwyn a Difetha, but you have.' Mel, Cass, you two so should've killed them. Tortured 'em even."

Cassie put her arm around her friend. "Tammy, we will. As soon as my power is back completely, the Master will be free, Glory, that big old snake guy…"

"As long as we're not raising Jasmine, I'm cool with it," said Isabella.

"Are you kidding?" Darkana retorted, "It's bad enough we have to deal with Drusilla here."

"Try spending three decades with her," Darla, Angelus' sire added, "Don't get me wrong, she was one of Angelus' best works, but the insanity can drive you insane."

Angelus wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. "You like pain and insanity."

"Not when I'm the one experiencing it and not inflicting it."

"Same here." Aingael came forth. "Never was too fond of Dru." She pushed Darla off Angelus. "Now make the sire back off, and leave some room for the sister." She pushed herself onto Angelus, who smiled.

"I'll always make time for you, but now is not one of those times." Angelus stopped smiling and pushed his sister off. "Right now, I'm more concerned about finding out what 'our little Slay-runt friends' have been up to for the past 16 years…"


	4. The Dark Circle

Chapter 3: The Dark Circle

The next morning, Morgan wrestled awake to find Cameron already up across the room. He'd already gotten out of bed and was just finishing putting his clothes on.

"Couldn't sleep?" Cameron asked.

"Rough night," Morgan answered as the events of the night before came rushing into her head. She got up and stretched. "What time is it?"

"A little after 10. We better get up." Cameron got out of his bed and started to leave the room. Then he peeked back at his sister. "Have you told Mom and Dad about—"

"Not yet," Morgan said, shaking her head, "And after last night, I'm not telling 'em today."

"Well, you better tell 'em by our 16th birthday or who knows what's gonna happen."

"Cameron, we're both half-demon. I bet they'd expect something like this."

"Yeah, but I'm the oldest. I'm supposed to—"

"I get it, Cam. Just go! I'll catch up with you."

"Don't call me that," Cameron mumbled as he left the room.

Morgan got out of the bed and went over to the closet. She opened the doors and picked out what to wear and was about to start changing when… "AAHH!" She fell to the floor, screaming and writhing in pain. She felt like a sword was being shoved through her brain. Unfortunately, the rooms had been sound-proofed and no one could hear her with the door closed completely (not their best idea).

Five minutes later, Cordelia noticed something. "Cameron, where's your sister?"

Cameron looked down the hall and noticed that Morgan wasn't coming out. "I don't know." _Morgan! Morgan, what's taking so long?_

…

_Morgan?_

"I'll go check on her." Cordelia left before Cameron could stop her. She opened the door…and saw her daughter curled up in a ball on the floor. "Morgan!" She knelt down next to Morgan and helped her sit up. "Morgan, honey, what happened?"

Morgan looked at Cordelia. "Mom?" She groaned and looked at the ceiling. "It's all dark. There's nothing but darkness. Darkness…and death."

Meanwhile, Dawn was laughing her head off.

"It's not that funny," Doyle said.

"You gotta admit, it kind of is!" Dawn said, not breaking her laughing streak.

Suddenly, Buffy joined. "You seriously got beat up by Cordelia? With a frying pan?"

"While you were a demon?" Dawn added.

"Girls, calm down," Angel said, making the Summers sisters stop laughing. Suddenly, he broke, too, and the laughter resumed.

_DOYLE!_

Everyone jumped upon hearing Cordelia scream through the link. Xander even fell out of his chair. The message was (obviously) meant for Doyle, but Cordelia was panicking and had sent the message all the way through by accident.

_What is it, Cordy? _Doyle asked.

_It's Morgan._

_At the warehouse…_

Cassie was pacing around a room, slowly pouring deer blood on the floor and chanting in an ancient language.

Angelus peeked through the door to the room and then closed it and looked at the other Gales and the Fang Gang. "How long do you think this is gonna take?"

"Cassie's very focused on her magic whenever she does a spell," Darkana explained, "She could be in there for hours trying to get it exactly right."

"Oh, come on!" Spike complained, "Can't she just zap 'em up right now?"

_BOOM!_

"Spoke too soon."

The door burst down and Cassie fell on the floor. She looked up at them. "It worked."

"So which one did you raise?" asked Tameeka, holding up a list of the bad guys they were raising.

"No clue."

They all looked in and saw Buffy standing there.

"You brought up the Slayer?!" Isabella cried.

"Bella—" Famina started.

"She's not even on the list! How'd you pull that?"

"Bella!"

"You know, you've done some pretty shifty things in your time, but—"

"ISABELLA!" all the other Gales shouted.

"Buffy" walked over and put her hand through Isabella.

"Oh. The First. Should've seen that coming."

Aingael looked at Angelus. "What'd I tell you? Airhead."

Isabella took offense.

First/Buffy looked at them. "You raised me. Thanks."

"Now don't be trying any of that mind controlling mumbo-jumbo again," Spike added.

First/Buffy glared at him and turned around so that her/its back was turned to them. "I may still be incorporeal, but I can still…changed my mind. Please tell me you got a spell to make me corporeal."

"Nowhere near," Cassie said, "And even if I did, I shouldn't be exaggerating my power since I've just been raised and I have to use my power to raise the other Big Bads."

The First turned into Cordelia as it faced them. "So who's on our checklist?"

_Back at STP…_

"Why is Morgan getting the visions?" Angel asked, "I didn't think that was something they were supposed to inherit."

"My question is why they're hurting," said Cameron, "I thought that being part-demon put out the flame, so to speak."

"Try telling to that to my cranium," Doyle said, "And I'm _half_-demon!"

"Well, that does explain why I haven't been having the visions for a while," Cordelia figured out, "The Powers jumped 'em to More."

"So what'd she see?" asked Connor.

"She said something about darkness and death."

"Oh, yay," Xander said, sarcastically, "Fun."

Cordelia glared at him. "She was pretty much insane. I think the vision messed up her mind a little. If it was that bad, she's not going to give off any more until it wears off and she may have forgotten it by then."

"Well, if someone here was clairvoyant or an empath or mind-reader," Angela said, "We could read her vision and understand what she saw."

"Too bad Lorne skipped out," Wesley said.

"Too bad Giselle and Buffy are limited to dream-visions," Gunn added.

"Too bad I don't have a spell to access Morgan's subconscious," Willow said. She then remembered… "Oh, wait, I do!" She grabbed her spell book and immediately started flipping through it. "Right here. Our only other option is to dig into her brain on the DreamScape, but I'm pretty certain that'd be surprisingly painful."

"I vote Willow does the spell," Cordelia said, raising her hand. Doyle followed suit.

Willow stood up then. "Alright then. Give me an hour." She walked off. She set up the spell in Morgan's room, Morgan resting on her bed, and performed it.

_Willow looked around. She was in the warehouse._

"_Spell?"_

_Willow looked at Morgan. "Pretty much. So what was the vision? We need to find out this one if we wanna fix this power of yours."_

_Morgan half-smiled. "Hold on tight. It's gonna be a bumpy ride." She closed her eyes._

_Willow was raced through the vision. Between flashes of light, she saw images from the vision: a circle with a star in the center made up of fire on the floor of the warehouse; a raging storm; and their Vampire teammates in Vamp face, each one attacking an innocent. Willow came back next to Morgan. "Whoa."_

"_I know," Morgan said, "You're lucky you caught me so soon. Usually the trauma from the vision causes some brain damage. Cameron's been watching me. I go crazy for an hour and then the vision fades, leaving some traces of fear and other emotions locked within my subconscious. Had you waited another 2 minutes…we would never have seen that."_

"_What was 'that'? What's coming?"_

_Morgan shook her head slowly. "I don't know. I just know that something with that symbol, some cult or something, is most likely planning on resurrecting Angelus, __Aingael__, Darla, William the Bloody, and evil Drusilla."_

"_I sure hope not."_

_Morgan closed her eyes and shivered. Willow ran over and held her, sensing the returning trauma in her brain. Morgan was having another vision, less sensitive now that a spell was blocking the physical pain. "The Dark Circle. They're rising. The Dark Circle!"_

"_Who—What is the Dark Circle?"_

_Morgan opened her eyes, took a few silent seconds to recover, and then turned to Willow. "I don't remember."_

_Willow sighed. "I think it's time we take you back."_

"_I can't." Willow stared at her. "I have to…" She bent over._

_Willow grabbed her. "We have to go back. We're needed in the real world. We have to find out what the Dark Circle is and stop them."_

_Morgan stared at her. "You can't." Before Willow could react, Morgan closed her eyes and the spell faded into blinding white light and ebbed away entirely…_

…making Willow and Morgan both awaken in Morgan and Cameron's bedroom.

_Did you guys get all that? _Willow asked.

Buffy closed Andrew's camera. Willow had blended together magic and science to give the team a view of the spell. "Oh, we got it. The question is: what did we get?"


	5. Special

Chapter 4: Special

Willow groaned, frustrated, and slammed her book shut. "There's no mention of any Dark Circle in these books and that symbol isn't in here either!"

Buffy closed her book, too, and laid it on the conference table. "Maybe Morgan saw something in the distant—or not-so-distant—future."

"That's not how it worked for me," Cordelia and Doyle both said, "Hey! Stop that!"

"Yes, please do!" Angela snapped.

Cordelia sighed. "I'll admit that it's possible that Morgan may have seen the future considering how her lineage works."

"'Her lineage'?" Cameron asked.

"Well, we're both half-Ghost," Doyle explained, "We're both part-demon, both being a different breed. And your mother here was temporarily a higher power."

"Which very well could have messed up your powers entirely," Cordelia pointed out.

"Wait a second…" Buffy considered, "…what about Giselle?"

"Well, we know the Slayer gene passes on," Dawn pointed out, "And…we know that Vampire blood doesn't because of Lucas and Connor."

"But it's never been mixed before me," Giselle pointed out, "It's always been pure."

"Aside from that," said Willow, "I think that this 'Dark Circle' is some sort of cult that may have been formed recently—" She then felt a surge of power go through her mind. "Did you feel that?"

"What?" Buffy asked.

"I felt it," Tara said, "Someone just launched a really powerful spell out there…"

_At the warehouse…_

Cassie fell into the door again, once again knocking it down.

"Will you stop doing that?" asked Darkana, "It's starting to get annoying."

"I can't control the force of the spell's rebound," Cassie explained.

"Well then, we might as well leave the door down instead of fixing it again," said William.

Cassie groaned and looked back to see who she'd raised…and smiled as she walked over there and knelt down next to the body covered by a cloak. "I know it's been a while since you've been awake…and alive even longer before that. But Elizabeth's twins are here. You can get to them like you always wanted." The person took off the cloak to reveal… "Louisa."

The Sibyl looked at her and half-smiled. "Just tell me where to find them."

_Back at STP…_

"Will, are you sure about this?" Angela asked their Witch friend as Willow gathered a few things.

"Angie, I've gotta!" Willow said, putting on her jacket and picking up her bag, "Tara and I are the only ones who can pick up the signal from this spell, let alone figure out what it is…er, was…er, whatever!" She started to leave. "If I'm not back in an hour, send Tara after me. If she doesn't get back after an hour, with or without me, use the link. If you can't contact us…figure something out." She left.

_At the warehouse…_

"Are you sure about this, Angelus?" asked Aingael.

"She's right," said Isabella as Angelus started to leave, "What if the Slay-runts are out there, ready to dust you?"

"Then I kill them, what's the problem?" Angelus said.

Isabella started to say something and then thought it over. "Good point."

"They could beat him up!" Darkana corrected, "It's a terrible point!"

"Another good point."

Aingael looked at Angelus. "And I repeat: AIRHEAD!"

Angelus smiled. "Don't worry, sis. I'll be back in a while." He left.

"Hey, someone's gotta kill one of them sooner or later or they'll all get to us," said the First, now in the form of Fred.

Famina sighed and looked around. "Where's Louisa?"

_Meanwhile…_

Willow walked down a street. She had her eyes closed, feeling out the vibes of the spell and letting it guide her through the streets with every step. Suddenly, she heard a weird noise and abruptly stopped. She opened her eyes and looked around. She didn't see anything. "Hello?" There was no response…but she did sense a presence… She was now freaking out. _OK. Time to call for help. GUYS! _But all she heard was static. Something was blocking the signal of the link. _What in the—_

"Willow!"

Willow whirled around to see Angel standing there. "You scared me!"

"Sorry. You were taking so long coming back to the building that I figured something was going on."

"I told you guys to wait an hour and then send Tara! And why didn't you use the link so that I could tell it was you? Then again, I guess you got static, too, didn't you? What is going on around here lately?" She stopped when she heard the noise again. "What is that?"

"Let me check it out." Angel walked forward and stopped at an alley when he saw something moving around there.

A hand with long fingernails emerged from the shadows and grasped the wall of the alley. The rest of the person emerged from the shadows to reveal Louisa. Unfortunately, Willow had never seen her before and didn't recognize her. Louisa looked at Angel and felt the sting of the power of his blood. She smiled at him. "It's been a while." She held out her hand. "Come to me."

Angel scoffed. "Just a note…" He Vamped out. "…Sibyl magic doesn't work on Vampires." He jumped at her and wrestled her back into the shadow of the alley where Willow couldn't see them. He pinned her to the ground. "Play along or the Witch will take your power."

Louisa realized what was going on. It was Angelus and he was trying to kill Willow. She smiled at him, nodded her approval, and kicked him off.

Willow heard a few noises (e.g., someone slamming into a dumpster) and finally, "Angel" came out in human form. "Let me guess. She was about to kill us."

"Good guess," Angelus said, walking over to her.

"Then I guess I ought to thank you for a close one." Angelus smiled at her. Willow stopped smiling. "What?" He Vamped out again. Willow started backing away. "OK, now you're starting to scare me." He reached out to grab her arm, but she batted him with a spell, her pupils covering her irises so that her eyes were entirely black and white as she held up the barrier and started to run.

But before she could go far, Louisa emerged from the alley and held out her hand toward Willow, who felt herself pulled back until Louisa was holding onto her. "Nice try, Witch…but you're no match for me and my powers." Willow looked at her, angrily, and tried to wrestle away, but she was stuck to her. "Ah-ah-ah…" She pulled Willow back, expanding the spell to where Willow could barely move. "…you run, we'll follow. We follow, we'll find your friends. We find your friends…you all die."

"Isn't that what we want?" Angelus asked, turning into his human guise and walking over there as Louisa let down Willow's spell.

Willow looked at him. "Angelus."

Angelus smiled. "It's been a while, hasn't it? I don't think we really saw each other last time I was out."

Willow pulled away from the barriers, but she was glued to the spot like a wax doll.

"What did I tell you about running?!" Louisa grabbed Willow's neck, almost choking her. "Let's try this again." She turned Willow to look at her. Willow took one look in the Sibyl's eyes and she was out of it. "That's better." She let the spell go, but Willow still didn't move.

"Hey!" Angelus scolded her, "It's no fun if she's not going to at least scream!"

"If she screamed, the 'Slay-runts'—as your friend so eloquently put it—would hear it and come to her aid."

"Then we kill all of them, too. What's the problem?"

"The problem is, it's not time." Louisa tilted Willow's head to where her neck was exposed. "I say we take them down one-by-one, starting with their most powerful non-Slayer just to prove to them that we are a threat they can't withstand."

Angelus smiled and Vamped again. "Now that idea I like." He grabbed Willow and leaned in for the bite…


	6. Silent Screams

Chapter 5: Silent Screams

_10 years ago…_

Fred paced back and forth in the lobby of the building.

Wesley walked in, talking with Angel and followed by the others. "And then we…oh, hey, Fred!"

"Wesley…"

"You know, we just got cornered by about 15 Vampires, just me and Angel while the others were off, and the two of us got—"

"Wesley, I…It's Irene."

Wesley stopped and went over there. "What do you mean?"

"I-I tried everything. I banged some pots together, I called her name, I snuck up behind her, but she'll only respond to the link, I…"

"What do you mean?"

Fred almost started crying. "I don't think she can hear us."

Angel started walking toward Irene (who was across the room), clapping his hands together. "Hey! Irene!"

Five-year-old Irene just kept playing with her toys as though Angel wasn't even there.

After a quick inspection, it was revealed that Irene had lost about 75% of her hearing. Enough of the link could restore a little, but it was obvious that she would never completely regain her hearing.

_Now…_

Morgan lay asleep on the couch in the main room.

Cordelia looked over at her. "I don't trust it. Even in her sleep, something could happen."

"Come on," said Xander, "When have either of you ever had a vision in your sleep?" Doyle raised his hand. "Oh."

Buffy sighed. "What about Willow? She's not back yet."

Tara looked at the clock. "I've gotta go check on her I guess." She started gathering her things. "It will officially be an hour in 5…4…3…2—"

Morgan woke up and screamed.

"Or not!" Tara dropped her things and ran over there, followed by the others.

"I told you!" said Cordelia.

Morgan wrestled against the vision, trying to bat away the pain.

"What is it, More?" Tara asked, "What do you see?"

Morgan opened her eyes and fearfully looked at them. "Willow…"

Tara didn't need to hear anymore. She grabbed her things and rushed out, followed by the others. She hurriedly flipped through her spell book before coming across a spell that might help. "Of fire, wind, earth, and rain…"

Angelus, meanwhile, leaned in closer. Willow, under Louisa's control, couldn't react.

"Destroy all her heart's unhappiness and disdain…"

Angelus scooted away her hair and got closer…

"Replace all darkness with the light…"

Angelus bit her. Willow let out a whimper, unable to scream.

"Remove all evil from her line of sight!"

Angelus was forced back, along with Louisa, by the power of Tara's spell.

Willow blinked a few times, now free from the Sibyl spell, and ran without thinking. After a little bit, she bumped into Tara at the street corner. The two Witches helped each other up as fast as possible.

"Will, are you OK?" Buffy asked.

"Don't talk, just run!" Willow cried, running off with the rest of them hot on her tail.

Angelus got up in human form and looked at Louisa. "Aren't you going to do something?"

Louisa smiled. "I don't have to. I already have her." She snapped her fingers.

Once Willow was inside the barriers, the gang stopped running. Willow massaged her neck as the bite marks disappeared and her wound healed.

"You OK?" Xander asked her.

"Just peachy," Willow said as she walked back into the building.

Louisa came up to the street corner not far away from the STP building.

Angelus came up to her. "Come on. Zap 'em! Do something!"

"The barriers are blocking my range," Louisa explained.

"So you're this all-powerful Sibyl and you can't even zap them from the other side of their barriers?"

"Correct…but I can do this…"

"What happened back there, Will?" asked Angela, "Morgan got a vision and we came running."

"Well…"

"Obscure." Louisa snapped her fingers.

Willow felt the memory of the last few minutes leave her mind. "I don't remember."

_At the warehouse…_

A while after Angelus and Louisa came back to discover that Glory had been raised, Isabella laid out a map of the city on the floor of the back room.

"OK, we have a lot to plan out here," Isabella explained.

"As if we didn't already know that," said Glory, pacing, "I guess we can cancel out looking for my Key now that she can't be used."

"Speaking of our little resident Seer," said Melody, "what do we know about the past 15 years? What have they been up to?"

"Does it really matter?" asked the First, now as Cordelia.

"OK, what do I do when we act this out?" asked Isabella.

"Uh…" Aingael thought. "You're a henchman. You hench."

"Oh, you did _not _just tell me to 'hench'!"

"Uh, I think I did!"

"Would you stop it, I'm trying to think! Wait a minute…" Louisa was pondering something. "The Witch might be useful…I wonder if she will still listen to me…I wonder…I think I have a plan." They all looked at her. "We can play with them before we kill them, but to do that, we need to prove that we're a threat _first_…and I think I know just the way to do it…"

_Back at STP…_

Anya groaned and closed her book. She looked around the meeting room at the rest of them. "This is ridiculous! Whatever attacked Willow and erased her memories obviously didn't physically harm her, so there's no telling what it could've been. At any rate, it's definitely not a creature in any of these books! According to these, there's no such thing as a monster that attacks and then erases any sign of its existence and if there were, it'd be too horrific to describe or it would have erased any notes on it in these books or—"

"We get it, Anya!" Xander interrupted. He closed his book, too. "Maybe this thing was summoned by this Dark Circle."

"Or maybe Morgan's visions were flukes," said Cordelia.

"Well, maybe we could know if I had been able to go with you and pick up some sort of vibe from the vision that could let you know what the thing attacking Willow was," Morgan pointed out.

"Wouldn't you have been in the insane phase?"

"What's your point?"

Willow was getting kind of tired. "It's been a long day. I'm gonna turn in early." She grabbed her things and left for her room.

"Something's wrong with her," Buffy said.

Angel looked at his wife. "How can you tell?"

"She's not answering the link."


	7. In and Out

Chapter 6: In and Out

That night, a little before midnight, everyone was asleep.

Louisa walked up to the barriers.

Glory came up to the barriers and almost tried to cross them, but Melody stopped her.

"If you hit the barriers," Melody explained, "an alarm will go off and wake them up and let them know an uninvited is trying to get in."

"OK, you putting them down yet?" William asked Louisa.

"Wait for it." Louisa closed her eyes and called out in her mind: _Oh, Willow, wake up…_

Willow's eyes opened. She wasn't awake, though. She subconsciously sat up and got out of bed. She took out a few things and quickly cast a spell.

A blue light flickered as the barriers went down.

Aingael stepped over the barriers to test it. Nothing happened. She smiled and put her other foot over it. She jumped up and down to make sure it was safe and skipped over the barriers again…and again…and a—

Angelus stopped her. "You are having too much fun."

Louisa smiled, hearing this and knowing that her spell had succeeded. _Go back to sleep…don't answer the call…_

Willow put up her things and got back in bed.

Louisa opened her eyes and smiled. "Let's do this." She led them through the barriers and into the building. She looked around inside to make sure no one was there and silently closed the door behind her. "And now we split up. Do whatever you want, just don't wake up the Slay-runts." She started to leave and then came back. "Or kill them, for that matter. It's not time."

"Shoot," Tameeka whined before she walked off.

Drusilla looked at Louisa. "You're no fun." She walked off. She walked silently down the hall and stopped outside Angela's room. She looked inside. "This cycle doesn't end. You lead to the Defender. Destroyer leads to the Key. Seer leads to the Slayer. Slayer leads to Daddy. Daddy leads to his son. Vampires' child leads to the daughter of the Seer. It goes on. Without end. Your love will get you all killed." She continued down the hall.

Famina snuck into Connor's room and sat down on his bed. "It's been a while, hasn't it, kid? I wonder if you even remember by now that you killed me. Then again, who would forget such a prize as my head cut off and turned to ashes?!" She Vamped and then turned back to normal. "You know, most people say to forgive and forget. But I'm evil. We don't forgive. We never forget. I should crush you right here, right now…but I won't." She got up. "Dream. Sleep. For now. One of these days, Vampires' child…I will get you…like you got me." She left the room and went to the next level, this one on which the little Slayers resided. She looked around. "Hmm… To kill a Vampire Slayer… I should choose my victim in the most dignified, mature, evil, and scientific way possible! Eenie, meanie, miney, mo, catch a Slayer by the—that one." She walked down a hall and came to one. She snuck in as quietly as possible and closed the door behind her, knowing that the room was soundproof (well, Willow had put up a spell to let through cries of distress, but no one but the Slayer trainers knew that). She got on the bed, crawling over the 10-year-old Slayer's sleeping body. She stroked the hair away from her neck. "I love the little ones. I must have gotten some stuff from Aingael. At any rate…" She Vamped out. "They say that dying is just like going to sleep. I guess you don't notice if you die in your sleep." She picked up the Slayer to get closer to the neck. "Say goodbye to your dreams, kid." She bit the Slayer. The Slayer whimpered a little, sensing the pain, but, regardless, didn't wake up. And she never would.

Louisa walked down the hall, her long-nailed fingers caressing the walls. Finally, she stopped. She opened the door to reveal Dawn asleep in her bed. A thought instantly struck her. She walked into the room, closed the door, went over to the bedside table, waved her hand to unlock it, and quietly opened the drawer. Inside was every single one of Dawn diaries and notebooks from the past 20 years. Louisa smiled and took out her bag, loading the diaries one-by-one inside it. Finally, she closed the drawer and snuck out of the room.

Glory snapped a Slayer's neck. She left the room and almost ran into Darla. "How're we doing so far?"

"Each of us has killed one or two. I'd say we've sent out the message. Maybe a couple more and we'll meet back and get out."

Glory smiled and nodded her approval. The two walked off.

Cameron woke up. "There's someone here." He looked at Morgan. "Morgan!" he hissed as quietly as possible, "Morgan!" His sister rolled over, but didn't wake up. "That's it. Family meeting now." He went back to sleep and called the group onto the DreamScape.

Morgan was still lying down asleep in the dream, but found herself subconsciously waking up to find the rest of the group in the lobby. "What's going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" snapped Cordelia, "And where's Willow?"

"I don't know," said Cameron, "but I think someone broke the barriers."

"What?!" Buffy cried.

"That's not possible!" Tara cried, "Willow has everything worked out to where we can't—"

"What about when she's asleep?" asked Cameron, "Can she subconsciously hold it up?"

"She doesn't need to," said Tara, "She has a talisman locked in the drawer in her bedside table that's supposed to keep it going no matter what until she willfully shuts off the spell entirely herself. And she would never do that!"

"Then explain why she's not here," Wesley pointed out.

"She's probably already in a dream!" Tara cried.

"At any rate," said Angel, "We ought to check this out." He woke up. Naturally, the others followed. Angel was the first to get up, sneaking out of his room and looking down the hall.

Buffy came up behind him. "I'll go wake up Willow. You make sure the coast is clear." Angel nodded. Buffy made her way down the hall to Willow's room and Angel went the opposite direction. Ironically, it was as soon as they were gone that the First came up in the form of Buffy. Buffy went into Willow's room, carefully closing the door behind her, and started to shake Willow. "Will. Will, wake up!"

Willow stirred and opened her eyes to look at Buffy. "Buffy? What's going on?"

"Cameron thinks someone broke down the barriers."

"What?" Willow unlocked her bedside table drawer. "But that's not possible, even if I'm asleep!" She opened the drawer and start rummaging through it for her talisman. "I have this thing to keep it going no matter what until I manually shut off the—uh oh." Willow pulled out her talisman. "It's not glowing. Why isn't it glowing? It's supposed to be glowing!"

"So the spell's not going? The barriers are down?"

Willow put down her talisman and nervously looked at Buffy. "I'm afraid to say it, but I think the answer is yes."

Buffy started panicking and helped her friend out of bed. "How long has it been?"

"I don't know…uh…probably a half hour?"

"There's no telling what could've gotten in by now. Come on!" Buffy urged her friend out of the room.

Louisa, meanwhile, was having a little fun. She located the rooms of each Slayer her "friends" had killed already and left the group's mark on the doors. Then she sensed it. The Slayer trainers were awake and knew that the barriers were down and penetrated. "Time to go." She found the others and hurried them out…but she couldn't seem to find the First or Isabella or Darkana. She shrugged. "Every villain for itself." She ran off.

The Slayer trainers congregated in the lobby.

"I didn't see anyone," said Angela, "But a few of the Slayers were slaughtered. Some by Vampires."

"Welcome the nest," Faith said, "Looks like those 8 Vamps came back, maybe with a few friends."

Wesley looked around. "Where's Fred?"

Fred, meanwhile, was checking out the meeting room. She heard a few clattering noises and turned on the lights to see Isabella feasting on their blood supply. The two looked at each other for a few seconds in silence. After a little back and forth, Isabella dropped the blood pack and raced out. Fred followed her, but couldn't keep up. Finally, she ran back into the lobby and into Wesley, knocking them both to the ground.

"Fred, what happened?" Wesley asked as he helped her up.

"It's the Gales! They're back!"

"WHAT?!" Buffy cried.

"Nice try, Fred," said Angela, "But the Gales are all dead!"

"You wanna tell them that?" Fred sneered.

Anya let her vision wander a little and then stifled a scream.

"What is it, An?" asked Xander.

Anya pointed to the corner and the group turned…to see a fluffy albino rabbit.

"Aw, it's a bunny!" Wren cooed, "This is our big, scary demon? I have seen worse on cereal boxes!"

"Wren!" Winter stopped her sister.

"What?" Wren turned back to the bunny to see it changing form…into Darkana.

Angela looked at her ex-friend, experiencing dozens of emotions at the same time: confusion, shock, fright, dismay, unhappiness, possible grief or remorse, etc.

"Told you," said Fred.


	8. Long Time, No Fight

Chapter 7: Long Time, No Fight

"Darkana?" Angela asked, looking her up and down.

"Yep. Miss me?" Darkana had changed a lot. For one thing, her hair had grown out. Where it'd originally been about to her ears, it was now a little under her shoulders. And her blue eyes were slightly tinted violet now from being possessed by the Darkness 16 years before. Other than that, she was pretty much the same old, same old.

"Why would I miss you?" asked Angela, defiantly, "I hate you."

Darkana got up from the floor. "You just don't change, do you?"

"No, but obviously, you have. Isn't there such thing as staying dead? What happened to the whole 'dust to dust' thing?"

Darkana scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."

"How is this possible?" Dawn asked, "You can't be back."

"Oh, but I am!"

"Well, here's a nice little question I'd like to know the answer to: how'd you get through the barriers?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, everyone knows Cassie was the Witch," Angela said.

Darkana shook her head, half-smiling and arms crossed. She looked at Giselle, Wren, Winter…and the other kids. "You little Slayers might wanna stay out of this."

Angela crossed her arms, ignoring Darkana's comment. "Maybe you're just here to get back at me."

Darkana scoffed and let down her arms. "Or maybe you're not looking close enough." She walked out. "Think about it."

As soon as she was gone, Angela looked at Willow. "Get the barriers back up before she crosses the border line. I wanna see her fry!"

"Whoa! Slow down!" Willow said, "It's a long, complicated process and it's going to take more than a few minutes!"

"That's it!" Angel said, "Meeting! Now!"

_About 7 years ago…_

Willow and Audrey were out walking.

"So," Willow said, "have you noticed anything odd going on lately?"

"Well…" Audrey said, "…Mommy got scared by _my _dreams about cute little bunny rabbits." Willow smiled. "And Lucas and I are getting along better, despite how much our daddies hate each other." Willow smiled again. "And I can do stuff."

Willow stopped smiling. "What kind of stuff?"

Audrey looked at a tree. "_Allow to take a flying leap one of the leaves on that tree!_" She zapped one of the leaves and it fell off the branch, despite it being spring.

Willow stared at the beaming little girl. She was definitely an improvisation Witch.

_Now…_

"Alright," Angela said, "Here's the damage report—who wants a snack?" She started to leave.

"Angela!" Angel stopped her. Angela slowly sat back down in her chair. "How bad were we hit?"

Angela looked at him, sadly, and then at the message pad in her hands. She laid the pad on the table. "We lost 15 Slayers."

Everyone stared at her in shock.

"Oh my squirrel…" Wren said [thus receiving weird looks from some of the people sitting around her].

"What I don't get is how the two of them, neither being a Witch at all—let alone as powerful or smart as me—managed to put down the barriers, sneak in, find the Slayers, and kill all 15 in a half hour without using Isabella's super speed and tipping us off," Willow added.

"I'd like to know how they came back at all," said Angela.

Dawn kept pawing through her bag. "Where is it?"

Buffy looked at her. "Dawnie?" Dawn looked at her. "What are you doing?"

Dawn sighed and laid the bag on the table. "Darkana and Isabella stole my diaries."

"What?" Fred asked, more confused than startled.

"That doesn't make any sense," said Connor, "Why should they steal something like that?"

"Well, I will admit that she records every little event that occurs around here in her tiny booklets," said Anya, "but the Gales already know pretty much every detail about our pitiful lives."

"No, they don't," said Winter, realizing what was going on, "Darkana thought we were Slayers. They don't know you guys have kids."

Every sat upright at that one. Now they knew there was a problem.

"Well," said Buffy, "they do now."

_At the warehouse…_

Darkana stared at Louisa. "You stole her diaries?"

Louisa nodded. "This will let us know everything we need to know."

"Yeah, you stole her_ diaries_."

"Yes, I think we have that established!"

"Louisa, no right-minded teenage girl these days would keep a diary that mentions anything other than 'her innermost thoughts and feelings' which are completely boring to anyone else!"

"Exactly. The 'innermost thoughts and feelings' that we need to play off of for this plan to work right. If anyone on their team got upset at anyone else for something, we'll know exactly what happened that we can duplicate."

Famina scoffed and picked up one of the diaries, starting to paw through it. Suddenly, she stopped and her eyes widened as she smiled. "And we could get to hear everything about all the little…adventures they've had since we left."

"Why would we wanna hear about them saving the world?" asked Tameeka, "'Ooh, something's coming!' 'Ooh, it's evil!' 'Oh no, it's trying to kill us!' 'Yay, we won!'" She gave Famina a look.

"Not those kind of adventures."

"Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Fame?" asked Aingael.

"Well, get a load of this one: 'August 2, 2007, congratulations Fred and Wes, it's a girl.'"

Glory stared at her. "Seriously? _All_ the Slay-runts had kids?"

Darla smiled. "Oh-ho-ho, now we're having fun."


	9. Sleepless in Indleshire

Chapter 8: Sleepless in Indleshire

Famina was pacing, flipping through another diary. "And this: 'August 28, 2007, Angela has been acting weird lately. I think it has something to do with Lola, that new Slayer.' Think that might be important?"

Aingael was flipping. "I don't know. Keep going."

Famina kept reading. "Well, there's nothing the next day, they must have been too busy. But…" She stopped pacing and her eyes widened. "Hey! Listen to this: 'August 30, 2007'…'Buffy and Angel finally had a kid. But guess what happened?'…"

_Back at the STP building…_

Angela was pacing. "This is awful. This is horrible. This is the worst possible thing that could've happened!"

"Angie, it's not that bad!" Connor snapped.

"Two of the worst Gales came back to kill us and now know that we have kids they can use as ransom notes and probably also that Buffy, the most powerful Slayer of the past century at least, isn't a Slayer anymore!"

Connor thought about that. "OK, it is that bad."

Audrey sighed and left the room to go stand in the hall.

Willow noticed this and followed her. She stopped her in the hall, making sure all the doors to the building's sound-proofed rooms were closed so that the conversation could be private. "What's wrong?"

Audrey looked at Willow. "Remind me again why we've never told them that I'm a Witch?"

"Because you're not like most Witches, like me or Tara. And if after 7 years of not saying anything to the others, we still haven't figured out how exactly your powers have worked, there's no telling how the others will freak out when they find out about your little demon-Witch…thing powers."

"Great, so now I'm a 'demon-Witch…thing.'"

Willow sighed. "We'll tell them when we need to. But right now is not the time."

Audrey nodded, understanding. "Got a point there."

"Let's just at least wait until things calm down a bit."

Audrey considered and finally consented, going back into the conference room.

Willow followed.

Angela was still ranting. "…and if they're here, there's no telling who else might be here! I mean, like we pointed out, Cassie was the Witch. And yet Darkana and Isabella were able to breach our barriers. AND kill a record number of Slayers! I'm telling you, any more and WE'RE DOOMED!" She said that last part grabbing onto Xander's T-shirt and shaking him like crazy.

Xander grabbed her by the shoulders to calm her down. "ANGIE! When was the last time you had something to drink?"

"About two hours ago, why?"

"Because you're acting like either it was B-positive or it had caffeine in it."

Willow sighed. "I know the drill. A-neg to calm her down." She went over to the fridge.

_With the Dark Circle…_

Louisa finished flipping through another one of the diaries and tossed it aside. Then she felt what Willow was up to and smiled. "Give me a sec, guys." She closed her eyes and focused.

_Back at the STP building…_

Willow finished getting out a container of blood from the fridge. Suddenly, Louisa's spell came over her. She reached into her bag and pulled out a vial of liquid, pouring it into the blood. She put the vial back into her bag and the spell faded.

_Back with the Dark Circle…_

Louisa broke the spell. "I think I just dealt with one of our problems." She looked around. "Seriously, where'd the First go?"

Cassie sighed. "Don't know, but I think it's time to wake up someone else on our list."

"Uh oh," said William, "Everyone hide! Run!" He pulled Drusilla off.

_Back at the STP building…_

Angela grabbed the container of blood from Willow.

Suddenly, Evelyn was sniffing the air. Her eyes widened. "Don't drink that!" She grabbed Angela, making her spill some of the blood on her arm.

Before Angela could ask Evelyn what was wrong, she quickly put the blood on the table and grabbed her arm. It was burning. She sniffed the blood. "Holy water?"

Willow looked at her in confusion. "What—But—That—"

Buffy looked at her. "Will, you're the only one that got near that thing."

"Yeah, but I didn't—it was—the only holy water I have is the spare vial I keep in my bag for emergencies and it's—" She pulled it out. "—empty. Uh oh. This doesn't look good."

Buffy stood there, her arms crossed.

Willow looked at her in return. "I swear I don't know how that happened."

Angela got up and glared at her. "Then explain how the only holy water in the room—which just so happened to be in your bag—ended up almost killing me. Er, re-killing me."

Tara sighed. "Look, Will, I'm sorry to point it out, but I've been sensing some weird and dark magicks brewing inside you ever since the other night when you got attacked. For all we know, the evil in you is still trying to pop out."

Willow had nothing to say to that. If Tara sensed the dark magicks inside her…then maybe that was true.

Winter was across the room. She looked at Willow, oddly, as if she knew that wasn't the case but that something awful was going down.

Willow sighed. "Fine. You know what? If that's it, then I guess it's not safe for any of us if I stay here." She left.

Xander got up and started to follow her. "Will—"

Too late. Willow had already left.

All the while, Winter kept her gaze following the Witch, even as she was leaving the building through the exit on the other side of the wall. _Something's not right here…_

Anya then opened the door and stormed down the hall. Buffy followed her before the door could even close. Buffy stormed down the hall in the other direction…and once no one was looking, turned into Fred. She looked back in the direction of Anya. "I see the plan's already working." She smirked. It was the First! It'd never left the building!

_Back with the Dark Circle…_

Tameeka looked through the wall at Cassie. As soon as she saw Cassie reaching the end of the spell, she came back through the wall, went back into human form, and opened the door for Cassie to fly through. She flew through the wall. Tameeka sighed. "I really thought that would work this time so we wouldn't have to fix anything."

Cassie got up and looked to see who she'd raised. There were the Trio, Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew. "OK, this I'm beginning to question already."

Darla sighed. "We're a team now, OK? And the team is eventually gonna need a techie, a spell-caster, and a demon-caller. Plus, one of them has a duplicate with the Slay-runts."

"True," said Glory, "_But _they are still human. And nerds. Both of which are incredibly ANNOYING!"

Melody sighed. "She's got a point. They still got their souls." She looked into the room at the Trio.

Warren looked around. "Looks like someone brought us back."

"Cool!" said Jonathan, "We're like Yoda! Nothing can defeat us!"

"Whoa, don't you think Yoda is going too far?" asked Andrew, "After all, 'when 900 years old, not as good _you _will look.'"

"True."

Melody groaned and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I really can't put up with that. I can_not_ condone nerd-dom of that level in this building, especially with souls like theirs."

Aingael smirked. "I can solve that problem right now." She Vamped and waltzed into the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

_Back at the STP building…_

Autumn sighed. "I can't believe Willow would be the one to go bad."

Anthony nodded. "I know. I always thought it'd be Mom."

Anya glared at him. "Hey!"

Buffy walked into the room (the real Buffy). "Where's—"

"Look, something happened to Willow," said Angela before Buffy could say anything, "And I'm telling you, guys, she's not right in the head."

Winter shook her head. "No. No…Tara…are you sure you were sensing the dark magicks right?"

Tara sighed. "We all wanna believe that we're misreading the situation with Willow. But I'm telling you, there were dark magicks in her."

Winter looked at her. "You don't get it. I've been sensing stuff my whole life just out of the magic in my blood from my parents being half-Ghost. And I'm telling you, the dark magicks inside Willow weren't there naturally. They weren't hers."

Evelyn considered this. "You know…now that I think about it…her heartbeat was normal and her soul was still intact. It was her mind that had been fractured."

"What kind of magic could do that?" asked Angela.

Angel got it. "That Sibyl you killed." Angela looked at her brother. "She could've done something like this no problem. She's back. She did something."

Angela sighed. "Well, I guess it would make sense considering how Darkana and Isabella were able to come back."

"And how do you expect us to fight off such a powerful Sibyl?" asked Illyria.

Gunn got it. "Fight fire with fire." Everyone looked at him. "Find ourselves another Sibyl and convince her to help us."

Wesley sighed. "Look, it's a good idea, Gunn, but…there are no Sibyls alive today. Louisa was the last one recorded to ever be born and she was born immortal back in 1689."

"Actually…" said Anya, "…I thought it was weird…it wasn't making any sense, but maybe it can help."

"What?" asked Fred.

Anya ran over to the weapons trunk in the corner, opened it, opened a secret hatch in the side, and pulled out an amulet with a black star-shaped charm on it. "It's a Sibyl tracker. Louisa was the last one to be born and there weren't many before her for 240 years. But back in the 1400's, WHOO! They were big. So D'Hoffryn gave all his demons these little amulets to help us spot them. They vibrate when a Sibyl is within 150 feet. And when a Sibyl touches it, it burns the mark on them. And, best of all, after the mark's on there, it absolutely cannot come off, so it would be impossible for them to hide their magic from that day forth. If we can use this to find our little gifted girl, then we've got ourselves a one-track way to defeating our newly-reawakened enemies."

What none of them knew was that the First was outside the room, disguised as one of the dead Slayers and listening through the cracked-open door to the entire conversation.

"And once Louisa's down, her spell should break and Willow should go back to normal."

Xander then noticed that the door was cracked open. "Man, Buff, didn't you shut this thing the whole way?" He went and shut it completely. "Anyone could've heard her talking."

The Slayer/The First outside the door groaned and walked off. "Gotta warn the others. But I can't leave the barriers without getting fried." The First sighed. "Oh, well. What are the odds that they're actually gonna find the Sibyl? Or that there even is one and that the amulet is malfunctioning after all these years? And even if there is a Sibyl here, they'll have to search the entire 150-foot radius for her. And either way, Famina or Louisa will have felt it already. Got nothing to worry about." The First walked off.

_That night…_

The gang walked onto the roof of a building a few blocks down.

Cordelia groaned. "We've already searched half of Indleshire and we've still got nothing!"

Anya held up the Sibyl tracker by the chain. "I'm telling you, the Sibyl's nearby. This thing has been vibrating on the same out-of-control frequency since I took it out of its trunk. You know what? It's like the Sibyl is within 50 feet of us and has been following us since we left the building."

They didn't realize that someone was down the road, watching the whole thing with binoculars from the roof of a building. The person looked down and saw a Vampire walking into the building the gang was on top of and then heading up towards the gang. The person smiled in anticipation.

Irene had been listening to everything through the link. Suddenly, she blinked. She heard something else. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, she could hear everything. It was like her ears opened up to everything for the first time in 15 years. She opened her eyes and kept listening. She heard someone or something breathing down the road. She looked but couldn't see anything. Then she looked down and could see the shadow of a Vampire on a windowsill. "Uh…I don't think the Sibyl is the only thing that's been following us."

Anya handed Fred the chain of the amulet/Sibyl-tracker and went to see what Irene was talking about. Sure enough, there was a Vampire getting closer.

Angela looked at the door to the roof that they'd come through. She sighed. "Sometimes it's just too easy." She opened the door and the Vampire who'd been trying to ram it down flew through the doorway…and into Fred, knocking them both down. Angela quickly whipped out a stake and dusted the Vamp.

Fred got up…and quickly realized what was missing. "The amulet!" She looked over the edge. Sure enough, she'd dropped it. There was no telling where it was now. "We've gotta go back down!"

Wesley stopped her. "We don't have enough time to go all the way back down the stairs! There's no telling who might grab it in the time it would take!"

Wren heard this. She instantly knew what she had to do. She ran at the edge and jumped off.

Fred saw this. "WREN!" She looked over the edge to grab her…and within the next instant, a giant bird flew up. Fred kept looking over the edge. Wren was nowhere in sight. Then it hit her. She looked at the bird. The bird had the amulet in its talons! The bird was Wren! "OK, didn't see that coming!"

Bird Wren flew through the air and landed on the roof of the building across the alley from the gang. The bird shrunk, lost its feathers, lost its beak, and traded its wings and talons for hands and feet. Sure enough, Wren was standing there. A shape-shifter. She held up the amulet in her hands. "I got it!"

Anya sighed with relief.

That's when a Vampire jumped at Wren. Wren instantly started trying to fight him off.

"What's with all the Vampires?" asked Tara, "It's like someone sent them here."

Angela then realized…Darkana, Isabella, and Louisa weren't the only ones that had been reawakened.

Wren finally got tired of fighting the Vamp. She needed both hands to do it without a stake. She instantly went to the edge of the roof and held up the amulet. "Win! Catch!" She threw the amulet across the alley.

Winter leaned over the edge of the roof and grabbed it before it could fall. She turned to face the rest of the gang while Wren kicked the Vamp back long enough to jump over the edge and go back into bird form long enough to rejoin the gang. Winter held up the amulet to reveal that she was holding it not by the chain but by the charm. "I got it!" Suddenly, her hand began to shimmer with a red light and burn. She instantly dropped the amulet. Then she realized what had happened. She held up her hand…to reveal to everyone that the charm had burned the star mark on her palm. She was the Sibyl they were looking for!

Fred blinked. "OK, that I _really _didn't see coming."

Down the road, the someone watching them put down the binoculars to reveal themselves as Famina. "Well, that's an unexpected twist." She smirked and walked off to tell the rest of the Dark Circle.


End file.
